


Not So Bad

by JPreadsnstuff



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Never Met, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Oneshot, craig is a mess, michael is a dick bag, tweek is a sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 14:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18284498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JPreadsnstuff/pseuds/JPreadsnstuff
Summary: It was official; Craig was having the worst night of his life.After being stuck in traffic, rained on, and stood up at dinner Craig ends up in one of the lowest points of his life.However, a certain Blondie may turn Craig's entire night around





	Not So Bad

**Author's Note:**

> AAAah!! I can't believe I finally finished this! It took awhile, but in the end it was worth it!
> 
> Anyway, this is the first actual fanfic I've ever really started and finished successfully. Any thoughts and constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated, I would like to learn to get better at writing because this was fun!
> 
> please enjoy! :]

It was official; Craig was having the worst night of his life.

* * *

 

For 2 months now, Craig and Michael, this guy he met on Tinder, had been talking non-stop. The two had grown quite close and had frequent Discord calls and Facetimes together, talking nonstop until they were forced to part. Around a week ago, they made plans to meet up at a dinner place for their first date. Craig. Was. Ecstatic. Well, at least as ecstatic as he could be, he is Craig after all.

 

Craig picked out the restaurant, which was a fancy place all the way in downtown Denver, and made reservations, which were practically impossible to get. He then planned a nice walk to a hill to look at the stars afterwards. He knew it was a bit excessive for a first date, but Craig wanted it to be special.

 

Clyde and Token helped pick out his outfit; which was a simple white dress shirt, black slacks, and a navy blue bow tie. He went to Jimmy for advice on pick up lines and cute little puns to use. And he even went to Bebe to help with hair and makeup. Craig saw no reason for this night to end badly, and around 6 pm; he called an Uber to come pick him up.

 

Craig didn’t bring much besides his wallet as the weather forecast said it would be quite warm, so he saw no reason to bring a jacket. The Uber was a quaint little red car with a tiny old lady sitting at the wheel. Entering the car, Craig was finally starting to get jitters. ‘Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit’ his thoughts were screaming at him, ‘I can’t believe this is actually gonna happen!’ 

 

A little while after his ride got off of the highway, it jerked to a stop. Craig looked up from his phone and saw a long ass line of cars in front of them. He looked at the time, 7:46, their dinner reservations were set for 7:50, and in this traffic he wouldn't make it in time. In a panic, Craig tapped on his map app in his phone to see how far he was from the restaurant. The place would take ten minutes to walk to from where he was, and he was sure Michael wouldn’t mind if he was a little late. Nodding to himself, he gave the Uber lady her money and stepped out of the car. 

 

Craig navigated his way around the cars until he was off of the road, and that’s when he felt it. A drop of water hit his cheek, then another, then another until they were at a constant pace.

 

“God fucking damnit!” Craig screeched quite loudly, causing a few passerbies’s to look at him strangely. Craig was sure he’d seen the weather forecast saying it wouldn’t be raining today, fuck those assholes. 

 

He sped walked through the cold and wet night, stopping a few times to try and warm himself up. In the end, he was 25 minutes late to dinner and it was absolutely pouring. When Craig finally saw the porch of the restaurant, he wanted to cry; both in relief that he’d finally be out of the rain and in absolute agony as he probably looked like shit. He walked up the steps and sat down on one of the benches under the patio cover. 

 

He took out a comb/mirror hybrid thing that Bebe gave him and looked at himself. He inwardly groaned at his appearance, Bebe had insisted she give him a makeover and go the whole way in the makeup department. And now, after being rained on for 25 minutes, he looked like he just had a mental breakdown on his kitchen floor. He had black streaks dripping down his face and his eyebrows were smudged, Craig made a mental note to never let Bebe do his makeup this extreme ever again. He took a few tissues from a pack he had in his wallet, and started wiping his face. 

 

When Craig had used, what he would say, was about 6 million tissues; he decided he would take the rest off in the restaurant bathroom. He combed his hair a bit so he didn’t look like a total wreck, smoothed out and re-tucked his shirt, and walked into the restaurant heading straight to the restroom. 

 

Once inside, he washed his face thoroughly to the point he had basically scrubbed his face off. His face was red and irritated from the soap he used and the scrubbing he’d done, but, hey, at least he looked somewhat presentable now. At this point, he was 34 minutes late for dinner and he wanted to die. How could he just let his date wait like that? What kind of asshole was he?

 

Craig took a deep breath to calm himself down, and walked out of the bathroom towards the hosting table. The hostess looked at him and put on a bright, yet obviously fake, smile.

 

“Hello and welcome, do you have a reservation, sir?” she spoke in a sickeningly fake sweet tone that annoyed the fuck out of Craig, he hated when anyone was fake like that. 

 

“Uh, yes… I have a reservation for Craig Tucker…” Craig trailed off; he forgot how awkward and quiet his voice sounded after being stuck in the cold. 

 

“Alright! Right this way, sir.” the lady led him to the table that Craig chose for him and Michael, it was near a window so they could look at the stars while either of them were waiting for the other. Craig's heart plummeted into his stomach when he found no one sitting there. 

 

Craig sat down. ‘It’s fine’ he thought to himself ‘he probably got stuck in traffic’

 

“Your waiter will be with you shortly, sir!” she gave a fake smile again “have a nice night!”

 

“Mmh” Craig hummed in response; he was too deep in thought to really acknowledge her.

 

Craig leaned his chin in his hand and looked out the window, it was still storming and the water was pounding against the glass making it impossible to look out of. It was around this time that he realized how cold he was. The wetness of his clothes and the air conditioning of the restaurant was making him shiver. He should’ve brought his goddamn jacket.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone walking up to his table. He felt a brief moment of relief thinking that Michael was finally here, but nope; just a waiter. Craig huffed and readied himself to talk to this stranger. 

 

The man looked around Craig's age. He was short and fairly stumpy, with big-dark-purple circles around his eyes like he hadn’t slept in 7 years. His hair was pulled back into a short ponytail with his bangs hovering over his eyes.  He looked paranoid as if someone was out to get him, but the most memorable thing about him was his smile. It wasn’t fake like the other servers there had, tense and nervous, sure. But not fake. 

 

The man finally made it to Craig's table, placing a menu and one of those silverware bundles wrapped in a cloth napkin on his table. “Hello, my name is Tweek and I’ll be your- ngh! -Server tonight,” the waiter, Tweek, said. His voice was weary and he twitched as he spoke. “Do you know what you would like to drink tonight?”

 

“Water’s fine” Craig mumbled, sounding more pathetic than he should have. He cringed and glared at his own voice, it was so shaky thanks to the cold.

 

“Ok, sir. Do you want any appetizers or do you need some time to think about it?” Tweek spoke suspiciously more cautious.

 

It took Craig his entire being to make his voice sound stable “I’m good for right now, thanks...”

 

Tweek nodded and sped walked away. Craig watched him go before turning his attention to the menu; he figured some food would help him get through the wait. After thoroughly looking through the appetizer section on the menu, he decided cheese-sticks would make him feel better. He closed the menu and set it back down on its place at the table. Craig took out his phone to check the time; it was 8:47, 57 minutes late. At this point Craig was almost pissed, but he knew better than to be angry. There was heavy traffic, after all. 

 

However, Craig was still getting antsy, so he sent Michael text “I’m here. Where r u?” 

 

Almost immediately, he got a text back; “wym??” Craig's heart sank,

 

“For our date member? I’m at the place. Where u at?” he hoped he was wrong

 

“Oooooooooh whoops i forgot lol soz” there it was, what. the. Fuck.

 

“What do you mean you FORGOT??? We’ve been planning this for a week!!??!” Craig was fuming, how do you just forget something like that?

 

“Jeez dude. Chill. It’s just a date what does it matter?” 

 

“I spent so much money trying to get reservations at this place. I was SO excited to meet you in person” Craig could feel his eye twitching

 

“Well? That’s your fault for not reminding me today. Now chill out and stop messaging until you've calmed down i hate when you get like this. i’m playing fifa so i probs wont respond until later”

 

Craig couldn’t believe this; he could almost hear his heart shatter on the floor. The guy Craig couldn’t wait to meet in person just blew off his feelings in favor of playing some video game. Any other day, Craig would’ve swallowed his thoughts and let this go. Today; however, is different. He felt too many things at once; anger, sadness, betrayal, regret. His fingers moved without thinking, typing out one final message. “Fuck you.” then he blocked Michael’s number. 

 

Shoving his phone in his pocket, Craig glared at his table. He wanted to yell and scream. He wanted to break something. He wanted to go home. He wanted to eat his feelings. He wanted to curl up in a ball on his bed and ignore the world. He wanted to… cry. 

 

Craig had always been good at hiding his emotions when he needed to, but tonight’s stress had pushed him way over the edge. Shivering turned into full on shaking and his eyes began to water. He sniffed quietly. At this point, Craig realized that if he didn’t want people staring at him while he had a mental breakdown; he should get out of there now.

 

Standing up abruptly, he walked straight towards the mens’ restroom, bumping into a familiar waiter on the way.

 

“Excuse me.” Craig mumbled, keeping his head down. The tears were already starting to spill over. Quickening his pace, Craig willed them not to.

 

The moment he entered the mens’ restroom; he headed straight for a stall. Shoving the door open, then slamming it shut with his back. He slid down the door until he was sitting on the surprisingly clean bathroom floor. Craig pulled his knees to his chest and rested his forehead on them. The tears and sobs came involuntarily and echoed throughout the mens' restroom.

 

It was official; Craig was having the worst night of his life.

 

Craig hadn't had a mental breakdown in a public restroom since he was outed as being gay in middle-school; he promised himself that he would never do it again. Guess that was short lived…

 

Since he entered the stall, Craig heard many people come in and out of the restroom. He heard whispers and some quiet laughs that he could tell were about him. If he was in front of those douchebags he’d flip ‘em off and tell them to fuck right off. Right now, though, he really couldn’t be bothered. Sure, he felt humiliated, but he was too busy feeling sorry for himself to care.

 

It gets to the point where the sobs are now but quiet hiccups and Craig’s red and irritated eyes aren’t producing anymore tears when he hears a knock on his stall.

 

Craig sniffles, “occupied.” Craig's snapped harshly, the other stalls were empty so why was this guy knocking on the one Craig was in? He didn’t have the patience for this.

 

“Sir, I apologize for interrupting, but I noticed you were- ngh- hah! -upset and I was just wondering if you still wanted dinner” the man at the stall slid a card under the door. Craig peeked over his knees; he hesitated, but picked it up off of the ground. ‘One free meal + dessert’ his eyes widened upon reading this. He rubbed his eyes with his sleeve to make sure he was reading correctly, sure enough, that’s exactly what it said. 

 

Standing up quickly, Craig turned around and opened the stall door; he had to know who would be generous enough to give him this coupon. There, standing on the other side, was the waiter from before. After a moment of staring, Craig's eyes trailed to the ground.

 

“... Thanks…” Craig muttered, a small smile forming on his face, he realized he probably looked like literal garbage, but he didn’t have the energy to care. He chuckled to himself “sorry, I probably look like a mess, don’t I... Heh…” 

 

“No! You look… well, ok, maybe a little bit like a mess, but I think you look good!- ngh.” the waiter- Tweek’s words were anxious and rushed, but Craig didn’t judge; he thought it was cute. 

 

Craig walked over to the sink; he smoothed out his hair and washed his face in the mirror as to make himself slightly more presentable. Tweek waited at the door for him, fiddling with his hands.

 

When Craig thought he was ready enough to face the outside again, he walked over to the bathroom door and was kind of taken aback when Tweek held the door open for him. He muttered a quiet ‘thank you’. Upon exiting the restroom, he realized barely anyone was in the restaurant. Craig couldn’t’ve been gone for long, could he? Pulling his phone out to check the time, he couldn’t believe what he saw. It was 11:32 pm.

 

“Damn, was I really in there for that long?” Craig wondered aloud

 

“Y- hnng! -yeah… I was kinda worried you fell asleep, heh heh…” replied Tweek as lead Craig to his table. Craig was kind of flattered that some stranger was so worried about him. When the pair came to the table Craig was sitting at, a glass of water sitting at the table caught Craig's attention. 

 

“Hey, what’s this? Is someone else sitting here?” Craig asked dryly, his voice was so broken and scratchy from earlier that he wondered how he could even talk above a whisper.

 

“Wh- Oh!” Tweek exclaimed, picking the glass up. “This is from- ngh -earlier; I forgot it was still here…” 

 

“Wait… earlier? You mean when I first left?” Craig's eyebrows quirked upward.

 

“O-oh- NNgh! -yeah, when you first rushed passed me I noticed that you looked really upset, so I set the cup down and followed you.” Tweek says shyly, looking at his feet. “I wa- hnnng! -I wanted to know if you were ok…” Tweek sat on the chair across from Craig, still not daring to make eye contact. “I waited so long to say anything because… well, you seemed a bit busy… heh”

 

Craig leaned back in his chair “yeah, I guess you could say that” he sighed

 

The two of them were stuck in an awkward silence; neither of them knew what to say. Tweek cleared his throat “ ehem, well I guess I should get back to- ngh -work” he stood up from his seat across from Craig and handed him his menu from earlier. “I’ll be back in a bit” Tweek said. And like that, he was gone.

 

Craig watched him leave, only when Tweek was out of his sights did he turn his attention to the menu in front of him. He flipped through the pages absentmindedly; he wasn’t really in the mood for fancy restaurant food anymore. What Craig wanted more than anything right now was to be at home watching Netflix with pizza and ice cream. Craig pulled the coupon that Tweek gave him out of his pocket and sighed, ‘maybe I’ll just give it back’ Craig thought ‘I’m sure he’ll understand, right?’ he set the coupon down and leaned his head in his hand, waiting for Tweek to come back.

 

It took a while, but when he saw Tweek round the corner with a notepad Craig perked up and sat up straight, relieved that he’ll be able to go home. 

 

“Alrighty, ready for me to- hnng - take your order?” Tweek said rather cheerfully

 

“Actually,” Craig started, “you can have this back” Craig held the coupon out for Tweek to take.

 

Tweek's expression dropped “Wh- aAck -what? Why?”

 

“I just want to go home and eat some ice cream, don’t really want to be here right now.” Craig half mumbled. 

 

“O- oh, ok then...” Tweek took the coupon back and fiddled with it a bit,”enjoy your night, sir” he offered Craig a smile and walked off.

 

Standing up, Craig made his way around the other tables and through the main doors. He stepped out onto the patio and that’s when he remembered; he didn’t have a car. Grumbling to himself, he reached into his pocket and too his phone out to call another Uber. He pressed the on button. Nothing. He tried again, and again, and again. Still nothing. “God fucking damnit!” he slid his phone back into his pocket and sat down on a bench. Of course his phone would die at a time like this. He could walk home, but it was really far away plus it was still raining. Craig put his head in his hands, what was he gonna do now?

 

Just then, Craig saw a familiar tuft of blonde hair walking out of a door marked ‘employees only’.  

 

“... Tweek?” Craig asked, mostly to himself. 

 

Tweek jumped at hearing his name, he turned towards Craig. “Oh, it’s you…” Tweek was out of his vest and tie, now only in a dress shirt. His buttons were done the wrong way so you could see his stomach, Craig's eyes trailed down his exposed body. “I thought you were going home?” Tweek said after a few moments, pulling Craig's attention away from Tweek's exposed skin.

 

“I thought you were still working” Craig replied in an unintentionally snarky tone. 

 

“Well, actually,” Tweek took a few steps forward, adjusting the bag on his shoulder, “I was supposed to get off work hours ago, I only stayed because I- hAh -felt bad for you” Tweek said, mumbling slightly at the end. “Now, you answer my question”

 

“Don’t have a car and my phone’s dead…” Craig trailed off, looking at his feet.

 

The two were silent for a moment, “I could… um, drive you h- hnng! -home…” Tweek rubbed his arm anxiously. 

 

Craig was so confused, “why are you being so nice to me?” Craig said louder than he should have “this whole night you’ve been so nice to me, I don’t get it…” 

Tweek was taken aback, “I erm,” he picked at the skin around his fingernails. “I just, sorta thought you were cool and- nng - I don’t know… I wanted to get to know you a bit better? Gah! That sounds so creepy and weird doesn’t it? I don’t even know your name and I’m trying to be friends with you! What’s wrong with me?” Tweek pulled at his hair.

 

Craig rubbed at the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed. No one has ever really tried to be friends with him, well except for Clyde, but that was in preschool. He stood up and walked over to Tweek. “I don’t think it’s that weird”

 

Tweek dropped his grip on his hair and his arms went slack, “y- hnng! -you don’t” 

 

Craig shook his head lightly “no, not really” 

 

The two stood there for a while before Tweek spoke again, “we should probably get going“ he started to walk down the steps of the restaurant porch.

 

“Yes. Right.” Craig followed in tow. Tweek lead them to a small, silverish-green beetle car. Tweek pressed a button on his keys and the cars lights flashed with a beeping sound. Tweek opened the driver-side door and sat down on his side before closing the door. He looked to Craig and gestured for him to do the same. Feeling awkward, Craig opened the passenger door and sat down. When Craig shut his door and put his seatbelt on, Tweek began to pull out of the parking lot.

 

“So,” Tweek started “what’s your name? I don’t think I ever asked…”

 

“Oh, uh, my names Craig” Craig said, shifting uncomfortably. He was really too big, well, more like too long, to be sitting in such a tiny ass car. Tweek seemed to take notice.

 

“Sorry if it’s kinda cramped in here… this car used to be- nng -my mom's and I never got it replaced” Tweek stated apologetically, “if you want you can use that lever under your seat to give you more leg room.” 

 

Craig’s hand searched blindly under the seat, pushing around empty Starbucks cups and other various garbage until he found the lever. He pulled on it and almost immediately the chair slid backwards, giving Craig much more legroom than before.

 

“Oh wow, Thank you, Tweek” Craig stretched his legs out and leaned back into his seat, it may not have been that much of an improvement, but Craig still appreciate the sentiment.

 

“Heh, you're welcome, Craig” Tweek replied offering a smile.

 

The ride continued with Tweek and Craig making small talk, which then escalated into joking and flirting which allowed Craig to use some of the flirty puns jimmy told him about. After the two of them finished a conversation on their favorite types of coffee, Craig noticed they were pulling into a target parking lot. He turned to Tweek with a questioning look on his face. “Tweek?”

 

“Hm?” Tweek turned to Craig “oh this? I just have to stop by the store to get something, you don- nnnNg! -don’t mind waiting here do you?” Tweek asked cautiously.

 

“Nah, I don’t mind it’s cool.” Craig responded

 

“Ok, I’m going to leave the car on, keep the doors locked and if you turn the radio on don’t change the station! I won’t be too long” Tweek finished. He closed the car door and began walking to the target entrance.

 

Craig took this time to really take in his surroundings. Tweek's car wasn’t the cleanest in the world. It had a large amount of trash on the floor and in the trunk, other than that the car was fairly clean. Hanging from the rear view mirror was a coffee cup shaped air freshener. Feeling pretty bored, Craig turned the radio on. The station it was on was some hipster-indie music station, the music was pretty relaxing, and Craig found himself slowly dozing off.

 

* * *

 

 

Craig jolted awake when he heard the divers door slam shut. Craig groaned, rubbing his eyes. He was so tired and couldn’t wait to get home. Craig sat upright and turned to look at Tweek, who was now buckling his seatbelt. 

 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you” Tweek said, turning the radio down a tad.

 

“‘S fine” Craig muttered, still not quite awake yet, “how long were you gone?”

 

“Not more than 15 minutes” Tweek set down a Starbucks coffee cup in the cup holder “I- HNng! -I mean I think, I only got, like, three things ” Tweek chuckled, pulling out of the parking lot.

 

“...I like your taste in music” Craig said, “It’s calming”

 

“Heh, yeah… I’ve always had a thing for acoustic indie music” Tweek adjusted his hands on the wheel, “it always seems to relax me in stressful situations”

 

The rest of the ride was silent, save for Craig giving Tweek directions to his apartment here and there, and Craig couldn’t help but glance over at Tweek's direction. This guy had been so great to Craig in one of his lowest moments and Craig had nothing to give him in return. It almost made Craig feel a bit guilty.

 

When the two finally pulled up to Craig's apartment building, Craig blew out a long sigh of relief. Craig could now fall face first into bed and sleep the night away. He swung open the car door and breathed in the fresh air. Exiting the car, he stretched his long limbs that had been kept in such a tiny, cramped space. Craig walked up to his door and was about to wave goodbye to Tweek when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, Craig saw Tweek behind him with a plastic bag in his hands.

 

“He- hng -hey, before you go I want you to have this” Tweek said shyly, offering Craig to take the bag.

 

“Wh… what’s this?” Craig took the bag from Tweek gingerly and peered inside. Craig's eyes widened when he saw a large carton of ice cream.

 

“I remember you saying something about going home and getting ice cream back at the restaurant” Tweek rubbed his arm, “I figured I’d get you some”

 

“Tweek thank you, but…” Craig stared at the bag in his hands, “I don’t have anything to give you!” Craig exclaimed

 

“O- nnng! -oh! You don’t need to give me anything! I’m just trying to be nice” Tweek exclaimed back.

 

“No, Tweek. I have to repay you for all the things you’ve done for me tonight, you’ve been so nice and lovely all night and I have to give you something- Anything back!” Craig affirmed, he had to do something for Tweek in return.

 

Tweek flushed a light pink color “a- nnNg! -anything?” he asked

 

Craig nodded “yeah, you’ve been so great to me so...” crag trailed off

 

Tweek took out a pack of sticky notes and a pen from his bag and quickly wrote something down. When he was done, he tore the sticky note away from the pack and stuck it to Craig's chest. “Then, um… call me?” Tweek said nervously shoving the items back into his bag.

 

Craig flushed a bright red and his eyes widened, he stared at Tweek for a bit before quickly nodding, “y- yeah sure, I’d love too!”

 

Tweek‘s eyes lit up, “really?”

 

Craig gave a small smile, still a blushing mess, “really really.”

 

Tweek broke out smiling and the two stared at each other for a bit, “well” Tweek said” I should probably get going now-!”Craig snuck down and gave Tweek a peck on the cheek.

 

“I’ll see you later, Tweek” Craig grinned at Tweek's shocked face,

 

Tweek nodded slowly “y- yeah...” he said dreamily, and walked back to his car.

 

Craig unlocked and opened his door. Once inside, he heard a faint “yes!” coming from Tweek's car. Craig giggled to himself, still a little amazed he even had enough courage to pull something like that. He set the bag down on the breakfast bar, and pulled the sticky note off of his chest to look at it fondly. 

 

“Maybe” he thought out loud “tonight’s not so bad after all...”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this, thank you so much for reading; i know the ending was kinda cheesy lol
> 
> my tumblr is @justaflipfloppingpotato if you want to see more of my stuff :]


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